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Feel free to utilize the info on the TIPS section as a complement to this series.

Feel free to share your theories and speculations. In fact, I encourage you to do so as this is what makes this series interesting.

I am designating Sushi-Y and Freakman to lead the discussion in the correct path without spoilers as they have played the game in advance. I put confidence in them that they will recognize a member has spilled the beans too far if any other members has begun to play the game.

SPOILERS FAR ADVANCED THAN THE CURRENT AIRED ANIME EPISODE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. THIS INCLUDES THOSE IN SPOILER TAGS!!!. People tend to peek at spoiler tags; especially when they do not know such tag is meant for the episode, only to find it spilling the beans too far advanced in the game storyline.

Ugh, judging from 2chan, the staff screwed up BIG TIME in showing the shock value for this, especially cutting out the interview scene in the epilogue. I'm afraid to watch this myself... anyhow, I guess we shall see how Himatsubushi goes.

Judging by 2chan (and my own reflection on reading the manga), the manga version seems to be 10 times better than the anime in capturing the tenseness from the original game. Studio DEEN, how could you screw this one up!?

They took 5 eps, and they still had to skip the interview scene....
They could have skipped the Satoko flashback to put it in, or just skip the ending song, damn it.

Spoiler:

Plus the daisaigai being on television lessened the impact of the whole Keiichi waking up only to find body bags and the army..... plus that radio program back in the truck.... and the interview.... rah.

Plus another thing : how exactly did Keiichi fall down the bridge, when it appears it's designed exactly to prevent that ?

Rika's scene was pretty well done IMO, but still >.>

Lots of messed up faces and proportions and skipped scenes add to the whole amateurish feeling.

Like I mentioned in the ep12 thread, it's doubtful they would cover the disaster scene to begin with, so I wasn't exactly holding my breath for the epilogue interview either.

First of all, I would just like to say that they did do a good job with the bathroom scene (uwa, eroi ^^; ), as well as Keiichi's subsequent explosion of anger. Even the scene in front of the clinic was done nicely, since the emotions shown by Keiichi and Satoko were pretty much spot on. However, things sort of went downhills after that.

Spoiler:

Personally, it would've been nice to see Keiichi confess everything to Satoko on the way to the shrine, like in the game, rather than waiting until after they have already arrived. It's true that Satoko's reaction to Keiichi's confession in the anime remained true to the game, but since they were already at the shrine in the anime, certain portrayals from the game were omitted, some of which carried quite a heavy impact:

Spoiler:

In the game, after hearing Keiichi's confession, Satoko moved away from him and began to walk on her own, even though she was still very weak. When Satoko was climbing the steps to the shrine, her steps were wobbly, but when Keiichi ran up and tried to support her, Satoko simply shifted herself away from him. Soon, Satoko no longer even pays attention to Keiichi anymore, as if she was ignoring him on purpose.

Keiichi mentioned how much it hurts to see Satoko reject him like this. And for us players, we shared that pain as well, since we know that, regardless of good or bad, everything Keiichi did was for Satoko's sake. Even though a lot of Keiichi's actions were mistaken, we knew his heart and intentions were pure: He loved Satoko very much (enough to make him kill), and he just wanted to see her happy. And to see Satoko giving Keiichi the silent rejection really made my heart ache.

The anime also didn't get to portray the #1 most important thing about the Rika scene. I know it's probably a little too strong to show on TV, but I still would've liked to see some portrayals of it:

Spoiler:

Rika's stomach was split wide open, and her organs, as well as intestines, were dragged out and splayed out in all directions.

In other words, she had been Watanagashi'ed.

(Although this is unrelated to the anime, I think all the game players will agree with me when I say that the "creaking door" sfx playing on repeat during this scene in the game was the scariest thing ever. Especially if you're reading it at 2am in the dark)

Another "odd" spot is those bandages on Keiichi's axe (although in the game, it was a hachet/cleaver like Rena's). In the game, it was mentioned that Keiichi used newspapers to wrap up the weapon so that it would be concealed from peoples' eyes. But the "bandages" here doesn't appear to have any concealment effects whatsoever: anyone can tell it's an axe, with or without them. ^^;

But personally, all of the above can be overlooked, even that solemn victims list and the final interview were all acceptable losses for me. However, what really hurted (for me) was the fact that they skipped out on the most important lines during the bridge scene:

Spoiler:

When Satoko said she loved Keiichi. That really hurted.

And Keiichi's final words to Satoko:
".........I didn't do all of this so that you'd praise me. ... I only wanted for you to be happy. ...We're useless. ......If you're not laughing... then we're useless.... That's why, ......if I were to disappear now, .........then laugh for me. ...If my death can help you move on to a new life, .... then, ...laugh for me. ............Can you at least, ...promise me that.........?"

Those phrases alone would've saved this episode for me, *sigh*....

Overall though, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. They managed to get some sad, emotional scenes in the anime for the end, but it felt like too little, too late.

But if I were to pretend that I never played the game, then I probably would've really liked this episode. So maybe the anime-watchers will like this one.

========
Himatsubushi-hen is next. I wouldn't mind if they're going to finish it in 2 episodes. I think 2 episodes is plenty for this chapter anyway. There's really nothing important about it except a few revealing scenes (about Rika).

Himatsubushi-hen is next. I wouldn't mind if they're going to finish it in 2 episodes. I think 2 episodes is plenty for this chapter anyway. There's really nothing important about it except a few revealing scenes (about Rika).

Well at least they really seem to do just that. It's only 'Hinamizawa' and 'Kizashi' and then it's over.
I haven't played the games up till now, mostly because my Japanese isn't sufficient, but with the additional information through TIP's and manga etc. I get the feeling they are rushing some things the wrong way.

This episode there were some crucial elements missing I think.
Ok but sadly they can all be explained one way or the other, but I can't imagine anymore that the anime will end after Tsumihoroboshi, because that would mean that Meakashi and Tsumihoroboshi get 11 episodes in total.

Ok but back to episode 13.
What really annoyed me, was that Tatarigoroshi started to appear more and more disjointed to me, I think it was mostly due to the missing interior monologues of K1. They could have made the suspense much more strong that way, especially in this episode...but well most of the monologue scenes weren't in here to begin with (epilogue).
I really don't know if they left out the epilogue on purpose or if there was just not enough space >_>

Ok that would be great, but when was the last series which got whole extrascenes, I think they would even need a whole new episode for this one.
And I don't think the animation-studio is major enough to be able to pull off something like great extras >_>

We could only hope that Square-Enix earns enough money on Higurashi, so that they finance DVD's with bonus's XD

(Although this is unrelated to the anime, I think all the game players will agree with me when I say that the "creaking door" sfx playing on repeat during this scene in the game was the scariest thing ever. Especially if you're reading it at 2am in the dark)

Why is it always 2 AM when I finish a chapter? LOL
No, seriously, only Onigakushi & Himatsubushi didn't end at 2AM b/c they were shorter. Yea... the "chase" was depressing, freaky, and had me on the edge especially when they got to the bridge and especially b/c of the character build up and trend of the other games, I didn't know if I should trust this. And BLAM. *shakes head* 圭ちゃん、いつも報われないね。

As for the interview: NO~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kinda guess, since Takano's death wasn't specified, but I still had my hopes.
Personally, I found it to be one of the creepist moments in the game b/c this whole chapter threw off everything I thought I understood what was happening.

But even w/o the interview the pt of this chapter is put across, judging from the reactions of the last episode. The interview would have been icing, but animation-wise I do understand why they didn't do it. Personally, if I was going to do it, I would have cut the ending song and play the tape with the credits rolling the game style (black screen only). That would have been creepy.

I sure hope they keep the monologue for Meakashi. Cut the beginning, first part in 2 EPs, second part 2 EPs, and that final confrontation 1 EP. If anything, they need to do that taunting monologue just for that last confrontation. バーカー ゲームに気付けよ

Well, I never saw that ending coming in a million years. My theory had been almost equally messed up, but still nothing close at all to this. All in all a great episode. I can only imagine though, if even half of things Sushi-Y mentioned were in it just how much stronger it would have been; especially those last lines of the bridge scene. I dunno how I would have reacted if I heard that specifically. Probably would have missed it anyways as my Japanese was only good enough to understand all but a couple of the most important scenes completely. After seeing that though, I really regret not getting to have an answer arc for this chapter in the anime now.

A. Keiichi is not able to live past a certain day (which could be incorrect becuase I don't know the exact days that he has died and I don't know if he died in arc 2). B. Keiichi causes somekind of phenomena in where, after he dies, time is reset and he lives again giving him a chance to live past that certain day. C. He can't remember that he has died in past arcs, but I bet he will start to remember at some point (perhaps in answer arcs?). D. One of the characters knows Keiichi's fate (suspicious of Rika because of her words in arc 2 "I'll protect you as best I can" [btw, that is summary, to see the exact words watch the episode 7?], but I'm probably way out of line here since she has also died in 2 arcs. E. Takano is fishy... she dies but lives, i'm gonna keep watching her. F. Himanizawa is cursed. G. Himinazawa has a culprit.

Aww, to many thoeries that are probably crappy at best, but that I think are possible =p. Hundreds of theories, yet I still feel I haven't solved anything, this show is taking me for some wild ride.

The epilogues and the interview that the anime cut out are all written in the TIPS section...except they are currently hidden out until the "fansubs" are released (apparently, someone saw them and complained that it was too spoilerish). So, I guess the answer to your questions about these interviews to be translated would be: it'll be on the TIPS section as soon as the "fansub" is released.

I felt absolutely horrible about Satoko. That girl can't get any breaks. Her breakdown at the bridge tugged at my heart a little. The same goes for Rika's death.

I think the bridge was designed a little too modern. It makes the whole "push off a bridge thing a little hard to swallow. And I suppose Satoko is gifted with superhuman strength.

Also, how much of a moron can Keiichi be. I understand he was shocked beyond belief, but why would you pick up an axe after it fell into a pool of your friend's blood? And on top of that, he chased after a friend while holding said bloody axe. It's worse then the main character of North by Northwest (the main character pulls a knife out of a dead man in front of a crowd of people).

Even so, a solid episode, even though the Gas disaster seemed to be not as terrible as it actually was.

9 out of 10

EDIT: By the way, the fansubs are out now. Please post the extra "Tips".